Monday, August 30, 2010

Illustrating or graphic designing is one of the industries where freelancing is abundant. Because the job can be arranged in a per project basis, more and more potential clients prefer to hire freelance illustrators or graphic designers because they don’t have to pay the artists just like the regular employees.

Simply defined as "self-employed, sub-contractors who market their design by the job to several buyers," freelance illustrators or graphic designers also serve as the boss, the office manager, the secretary or secretarial pool, a member of the sales staff, the head and the staff of the marketing department, the maintenance staff and the mailman all rolled into one person.

If you are in the field of illustration or graphic designing and you would want to accept freelance jobs or projects, then you should start building, promoting and marketing yourself by now. According to most freelance illustrators and graphic designers who are into the field of freelancing, a freelance artist of graphic designer should be possess a dedicated passion for a demanding job and clients as well.

If you are a full time illustrator or graphic designer and you are planning to go freelance, here's a set of considerations you might want to contemplate on before indulging into an adventurous yet demanding job.

1. Determine and set your goals. Just like in any job, becoming a freelance illustrator or graphic designer will require you to set and determine your goals before finally jumping over a new set up. Since becoming a freelance artist will eat much of your time especially if you're just starting, you need to contemplate if you should drop your day time job and if you can handle meticulous and demanding clients at hand.

Part of determining and setting your goals is asking yourself what you are getting out of the career shift and what made you decide to do this.

2. Assess yourself. Going freelance would mean that you have to have enough experience, discipline, knowledge, and expertise in the field you are in. If you think you have, then you should also assess if you have the drive and ambition to turn your skill into a success.

Also, you have to ask yourself, if you have the willingness and the patience to start anew. It is also very important that you have the talent, drive, and motivation in order to generate more income from your potential clients.

3. Check your business acumen. Knowing different business routes and knowing how to run a business will definitely help you become a successful freelance illustrator or graphics designer.

4. Gauge your capability to decide. Decision-making is a very important aspect in going freelance. If you are really planning to go freelance, then you should have the heart and the mind to decide. Since you'll be making a lot of decisions eventually, you should start learning to decide wisely as early as now.

5. Check your overall attitude towards shifting to a new working environment. Before finally jumping into freelancing, you should ask yourself how to handle stress, possible rejection, and competition.

Monday, August 23, 2010

One of the biggest markets where freelance work is done is in the field of designing and illustration. Defined as "doing a graphic design jobs for businesses to make their products sell via direct marketing," designing is becoming one of the growing markets where designers earn income by doing freelance work.

Indeed, words are powerful. But today, in a world where the any market becomes more and more competitive, images prove that they are even more powerful and forceful. This is because more and more people appreciate visuals and appealing illustration compared to overwhelming texts in any marketing and promotion strategy.

With the fast-paced and modern technology people enjoy today, images are used to communicate and convey messages and information easier and more effective. Unlike texts where there are boundaries because people speak different languages, images created by freelance illustrators are used in most marketing campaigns because they can appeals even to those people who have different ethnicities and backgrounds.

BECOMING A FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR

Almost all business establishments today require the assistance of designers and illustrators. This is because they have finally realized that illustrations can be more powerful in promoting their services and products. But, instead of hiring full time illustrators or in-house designers, more and more clients prefer to hire freelancers because they are oftentimes more creative and resourceful.

For companies who would want to create a new marketing strategy in order to communicate a message or information effectively, illustration can be the key. Whether you are into publishing like children's book, instructional booklet or website, your product can be more appealing if it has illustrations. So, it is now time to consider your options for freelance illustration or design.

In order to become a freelance illustrator or designer, you have to have a specialization in the required field. You can do this by earning a degree or certification in various colleges and universities out there. But if you are too busy to take classes in educational establishments, you can take courses online that can help you to be a successful freelance illustrator. Here are some of the sites where you can take online courses:

1. Sessions. This is one of the online schools of design and media. Many freelance illustrators today will agree that being a student of Sessions will enable you to enjoy an award-winning curriculum of design and illustration classes right in the comforts of your own home.

2. Tutorials. There are so many websites that offers online tutorials over the Internet today. Most of these multimedia tutorials can help you to learn graphic design, web design and illustration without the delays of downloading. You can even start using these web-based tutorials as soon as you sign in.

3. Adult University. This site provides comprehensive online continuing education classes in very interactive classrooms. If you would want to take graphic design, web design and illustration courses online, then you should start browsing the website by now.

4. Harcourt Learning Direct. This is one of the sites that offer at-home and self-paced training that teaches web design, illustration and graphic design for individuals who would want to learn without having to enroll in major colleges or universities.

Aside from getting educated, you will also need the tools and software in order to be a graphic designer or illustrator such as Adobe Photoshop 5.5 with Imageready 2.0 to help boost the resolution of your photos, Illustrator 9.0 to help your graphics become more appropriate for print, web, and dynamic digital media use, QuarkXPress and InDesign 1.5 to achieve ultimate professional publishing results.

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Internet has also opened up a lot of doors for freelance artist. Today, if you're an artist and you want to make a great income and be profitable, freelance art work is the best path to get into. Aside from freeing you from all the restrictions of full time job, freelancing will also enable you to conduct business with as many clients as you can for as long as you don’t sacrifice the quality of the service you offer and you don’t miss any deadline.

Artists are known to express specific and unique visions and visual representations through different mediums such as painting, sculpture, drawing, graphic designing or mixed media. In order to improve their inherent skills and talent, many artists take time to attend workshops, shows, seminars, and even conducting research in order to improve their profession.

In fact, some artists even use their specific set of marketable tools to become freelance commercial artists and produce work on consignment basis while some their skills in order to produce their own work.

Being a freelance artist opens up a great deal of opportunities. In fact, some of the fields where freelancing pays a lot is in the world of commerce, computers, electronics, publishing houses, online services, advertising, promotion, product design and software companies. These freelance artists are hired as consultants because of their aesthetic sense and representational skills.

BECOMING A FREELANCE ARTIST

Aside from giving you freedom to choose your projects, being a freelance artist also allows you to handpick jobs that are within the bounds of your talents and skills. Most experts agree that if you are an artist, freelancing is the best way to go because you can be your own boss.

All you need to do is to understand what your potential clients want or customize it to their liking. If you are an aspiring freelance artist or designer, there are some things you need to do in order to be successful in the freelance and online world.

1. Set your goals. Before finally jumping the bandwagon of freelancing, make sure that you already set your goals and you know what you really want to do. Try do develop a business plan and figure out where you are good at.

2. Build a good portfolio and develop a good presentation. Your portfolio will serve as your "calling card." Make sure that you build up a good portfolio because it will be the first thing that your clients will see. If you plan to conduct business online, then it is a must that you develop an online portfolio that is organized, clear, and professional looking.

3. Ensure that there are thumbnail links and that they are working and easy to use. To ensure that the thumbnails that are easy to use by writing descriptive text for each addresses. Also ensure that your site has a good representation because it will reflect your own skills.

4. Try to build good working relationships. Working online means that you only conduct business virtually. Since you don’t get to meet your clients face-to-face, it can be hard for you to establish good working relationships.

But, don’t let virtually hinder you from establishing good working relationships with your clients, try to be always available in case they need to set a meeting with you. Also make sure that you always open communication lines with them.

5. Try to educate your clients. Don’t let your clients dictate you what they want the output to be. Since you are an expert in your field, teach them about the updates in designing and try to give them feedbacks what is latest in the field you are in.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

If you can speak a foreign language, another area you may not of thought of is translation. As speaker you can put those pipes to work many ways. Some use this as a as stepping stone in order to accomplish a stable career. Today, one of the most lucrative areas where freelancers earn a great deal of income is the field of translation.

More and more freelance translators offer their services. Although the profession sounds good and the translation industry is steadily booming, it can be hard to find well-paying work if you weren’t able to earn a degree in translation, translation experience, excellent language skills, and training and experience in a technical field of translation.

If you are interested in freelance translation, the easiest way to do it is to get samples and references. You can do this by being a volunteer or intern in agencies that need translation services such as the American Red Cross, Translators Without Borders, refugee assistance programs, and public health clinics who are in need of volunteer translators and interpreters or by working for low-paying translation agencies that are willing to train beginners.

Aside from getting experience and references, you also need to be a writer. The profession of translation also needs excellent writing skills because the translation should be correct not only verbatim or "word for word" but should also be grammatically correct. And last but not the least, you will need subject-specific knowledge in your own native tongue in order to translate subject-specific documents requested by your potential client.

Aside from having these three considerations, here are some tips that can help you in order to be a successful freelance translator:

1. Make sure that you are realistic. Just like in any field, you need to consider if you plan to work fulltime or freelance. If you are considering working as a freelance translator, you need to be realistic in the possible outcome. Since you are new in the field, you can't expect that you will have a sizeable list of clients on a regular basis.

2. Continue building up. If you are already in the industry, never stop marketing. Having a regular list of clients doesn’t guarantee that you can keep all of them for a long time. Make sure that you continue contacting prospective clients in order to keep the works flowing.

3. Never ignore the local market especially if you are able to present yourself better in person than on paper. In order to build reputation, you need to show a portfolio of your work personally. By doing this, you can ensure that you will have an idea what your potential clients want.

4. Try to join some associations. By doing this, you can add credential to your portfolio. Freelance translators can join associations such as the American Translators Association or its local chapters to help you establish professionalism as a translator. This can also open up a new door to meet other translators and learn from them.

5. Learn from experience by asking for advice. Try to talk to other translators so you will have an idea about the field you are about to enter.

6. Adjust your resume toward translation. The key in order to get clients is by marketing yourself as bilingual if you are. If you also have specialized professional skills, you can also include this in your resume or portfolio.

7. Try offering services that more experienced translators don't. As mentioned, the translation industry is booming and more and more translators are offering their services. In order to meet the demands of the competitive market, try to offer services that others don’t offer such as work on nights, weekends, and rush jobs.

8. Make sure that you get certification. If you are a freelance translator, make sure that you get certification so it can back up your credentials.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Freelancing has definitely become one of the trends in generating better income for most professionals today. In fact, one of fields where freelancing is popular is in programming. Today, the world of software development and programming world is going through drastic changes. In fact, many big companies and small companies are getting into different levels and options in order to gear their businesses towards stability.

Because more and more companies are gearing towards different alternatives to promote their products and services better, this need opens up a lot of opportunities to professionals who are doing freelance work. And because of this growing need and demand of companies for freelance programmers, the availability of freelance jobs in the market also increases as days go by.

If you are a freelance programmer and you are more than willing to spend extra hours to dedicate your skills, expertise and experience, then you have better chances of survival in the industry. In fact, being a freelance programmer is a potential option for you so you can earn more money.

If you are planning to become a freelance programmer, here are some of the things you might want to consider:

1. You must be able to finalize a certain set of goals. This is very important especially if you want to go freelancing because this will serve as your foundation for the shifting career.

Before you finally decide becoming a freelance programmer, make sure that you have developed a clear set of goals to know where you are headed. You should also be able to develop a good business plan to identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as your abilities. Once you have done this, then you can now sell your services in various clients out there.

2. Create a good portfolio. Your portfolio is your presentation in the market. If you want to go freelance in the world of programming, your portfolio should reflect what you are marketing.
Always remember that your portfolio is your "calling card," make sure that you build it well. Some of the good qualities of an effective portfolio are organized, clear, and professional-looking. If you are just planning to build one, make sure that you include your best works.

3. Try to build and maintain good working relationships with your clients. Working online makes it harder for people to create and maintain good working relationships. But, don’t let this prevent you from developing harmonious relationships with your clients. All you need to do is to open good communication lines with your clients and be there when they have questions or clarifications.

4. Get work by promoting or marketing yourself. You can do this by signing up with an on-line marketplace, by building your own website, by creating a self-promotion piece, program or design, or by networking

5. Always keep in mind that this is a business. You can do this by maintaining regular business hours when you accept a new project. You can also do this by always making sure that sign the contract and by getting half of your fee up as soon as the project starts to progress.

If you are surfing online and you would want to get freelance programming work, try to visit sites where freelance works are listed such as AllFreelance, icplanet, ework, elance, rentacoder, workexchange, smarterwork, FlipDog Jobs, and eWanted.

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